Get out the binoculars, we're in bird viewing heaven
Kirsten Murphy
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Feb 23/01) - City parks are a wild kingdom of black-capped chickadees, hoary red polls and house sparrows, even in winter.
Do people realize this? Not likely, said ornithologist Mike Fournier. Should they?
"Absolutely. It never ceases to amaze me when I see people walking and jogging through Niven Lake and they miss everything that's going on around them," said Fournier.
Ravens and ptarmigans are a familiar sight.
Tapping into the 210 species of less commonly seen beaks and feathers is simple.
Tune in, look up, carry binoculars and, space allowing, pack around a guide book.
Fournier, a wildlife technician with the Canadian Wildlife Service spends his winter weekends watching a resident and migrating birds from his living room window.
"It's a dynamic area because of our geographic location."
Fournier's four suspended front yard bird are filled with a mixture of human and bird seeds.
The approximately 100 bird-feeding enthusiasts in town must avoid killing the creatures with kindness, especially in the next month when people go on holiday, said Fournier.
"If you cut off a food supply they've become dependent on, you may end up killing the bird," he said.
Yellowknife's bird- watching season comes in three cycles: good, great and excellent. Clearly ravens survive the winters easily.
These days, chickadees are more audible with the longer daylight hours.
By late April bald eagles, mountain blue birds, finches and juncos are migrating North. A month later, it's feather heaven for eager naturalists and ornithologists who take to the shorelines in kayaks and canoes. With or without binoculars, loons, ducks, horned grebes, fly catchers, warblers and shore birds are common sights.
Not everyone may see the splendid and diverse creatures, but they are certainly there, said Fournier.
Ecology North offers the closet thing to a bird- watching club with their nature walks.
Fournier encourages people to check out Niven Lake, Willow Lake, Range Lake and even Rat Lake -- an area known for elevated arsenic levels -- for almost guaranteed sightings.
The Fundamentals of Bird Watching will be offered by Bob Bromley May 9-23 through the city's community services department.
